


Roll for Animal Handling

by FrillyHeathen



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Island Mode (Dangan Ronpa), Light Angst, Light-Hearted, Mild Hurt/Comfort, One Shot, Peko is Touch-Starved, but I'm delivering it anyway, no one asked for this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:47:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28054878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrillyHeathen/pseuds/FrillyHeathen
Summary: Peko goes to Usami for advice about her dilemma with animals.
Relationships: Pekoyama Peko & Tanaka Gundham, Pekoyama Peko & Usami | Monomi, Tanaka Gundham & Usami | Monomi
Comments: 6
Kudos: 12





	Roll for Animal Handling

Peko felt very out of place in Usami's house. Everything was brightly colored, from the blue and yellow walls to the heart-shaped cushion that Peko was sitting on. The air was filled with the strong smell of apples and vanilla. 

She readjusted again, but the cushion was too squishy to be comfortable no matter how she positioned it.

It had been a few weeks since she had woken up on Jabberwock Island with Fuyuhiko and the others, and despite her worries, nothing bad had happened since that Monokuma bear was defeated by Usami.

Peko’s days were spent exploring the islands, making crafts, and getting to know the other students. Just the night before there had been a cookout on the beach, and Peko somehow found herself dragged into a circle with the other girls. It was intimidating, but also...nice. Peko never had many opportunities to talk to people her age before; she was always too busy focusing on Fuyuhiko’s needs.

She still had her worries about the island, but it was becoming easier for her to relax and take a deep breath of the ocean air. It was becoming easier to let Fuyuhiko out of her sight.

It was becoming easier for her to forget that she was a tool, and that was very dangerous.

“The tea is done!” Usami happily declared. She walked over, placed the tray on the table, and filled two cups with a copper-colored liquid. “It’s a flavor from Sonia’s home country. Unfortunately we don’t have any Makango droppings, but Sonia said that we could use sugar as a replacement!”

Usami sat down across from Peko, and took a sip from her cup. Kazuichi had once dragged the entire class into a discussion about whether Usami was a living creature or a robot, and Peko wondered if she should mention this the next time it was brought up.

Once the cup was brought to her mouth, a shudder ran through Usami’s body, and she swiftly lowered it. “Oh, it’s an—interesting flavor.” She pushed the cup far into the center of the table and lifted her eyes to Peko’s. “Now, how can I help you?” 

The words felt unnatural on her tongue, but Peko forced herself to push them out. “I am in need of advice.” 

Usami instantly brightened.“Oh, I love to give advice to my students! What kind of advice?”

Peko twisted her hands into the fabric of her skirt—a nervous habit that she thought she had gotten rid of a long time ago. "I want to be able to pet soft animals, but I scare away any that I try to get close to. Even the cows on the farm run from me.”

“That’s so sad!” 

Peko was shocked to look up and see that there were tears brimming in Usami’s eyes.

“To think that all you wanted to do was show them love and they ran away from you! I’ll have to go and give those cows a talking to!” With a huff, Usami stood up and grabbed her magic wand from where it was resting beside the table.

“That is not necessary,” Peko said. “They don’t need to be bothered any more because of me.” 

Usami’s righteous anger puffed out like a candle, and her shoulders slumped with relief. “Oh, good. I’m not good with confrontation, even with other animals…”

She tilted her head in confusion. “What do you want me to do for you, then?”

“I need advice on how to approach animals without making them afraid of me. You are the least threatening creature I know, and that’s why I turned to you.”

Usami’s ears drooped. “Am I really that unthreatening?” she asked quietly. Then she shook herself and said, “If that’s the case, then I will gladly help you befriend animals! Let’s go to the farm right now!”

“Right now?” Peko repeated.

“Right now—as long as you want to, of course.”

There wasn’t any reason not to go, but Peko didn’t feel incensed until she realized what this meant: she might be able to touch an animal’s fuzzy head today. She stood quickly, her shins bumping the small table and splashing the tea from her untouched cup. “Let’s go,” she said.

Usami nodded and held up a paw. Peko took a step back, but then she realized that Usami was inteading for them to hold hands. Hesitantly, she reached out and grasped Usami’s paw. It was surprisingly soft.

Usami hefted up her wand and drew a large circle in the air. Small specks of light trailed after her wand, turning into solid lines when she completed the circle. The air within the circle shimmered for a moment before exploding into golden light.

Peko wondered if she was hallucinating. Usami tugged her forward and they both stepped through the golden circle. Peko squeezed her eyes shut to block out the light, and when she opened them, she was suddenly on the farm on the First Island. She looked back in time to see the golden circle shrink and disappear.

 _Definitely hallucinating,_ she thought. Her head was spinning and it felt like the ground was vibrating. She must have hit her head, or maybe there were fumes coming from the tea, because there was no way that they had just teleported.

But she was brought back to a conversation that she overheard between Hajime and Chiaki once. Hajime had mentioned that Usami once did an illusion where she made it look as if she had turned a chicken into a cow with just her wand. Peko now had good reason to believe that it wasn’t an illusion.

_“Where are all the animals?”_

Usami's voice brought Peko back to the moment, and she looked over to see what the teacher was walking about. The barn was empty, with no cows or chickens in sight. 

“They can’t have all just disappeared!” Usami yelled. She tugged on her ears and started muttering things that Peko couldn’t understand—stuff about “glitches” and “loading zones.”

Peko’s head thankfully cleared up from the portal, but it still felt like the ground was shaking. In fact, it seemed to be shaking even more, and there was a rumbling sound that was growing louder...

With a slight tilt of her head, Peko saw exactly where all the animals had gone.

The cows were running in a tightly packed herd with the chickens flapping after and squawking. Standing with his feet planted on the backs of two of the cows was Gundham Tanaka. He was laughing loudly with his arms folded proudly over his chest. His scarf was flapping in the wind, and as he grew closer Peko could see four small shapes clinging to it.

Gundham noticed Peko, and he began to say, “Hello there, Ms. Pekoya--”

“Stop right there, mister!”

Usami had run in front of the herd and was holding up her magic wand. The wand glowed white, and all of the animals came to a sudden stop. Gundham toppled forward and face planted into the dirt.

Peko realized what the four shapes on Gundham’s scarf were when they also went flying: his hamsters. She tried and failed to catch them. Thankfully they all landed in patches of grass, and got up after a few moments to crawl back to Gundham.

Usami was at Gundham’s side, shaking him and wailing as tears streamed down her face. Peko ran over and helped her to roll him over. 

Gundham groaned, and his eyes fluttered. His entire front was covered in dirt and his face was rather scraped up, but Peko couldn’t see any more major injuries. She checked closer to make sure that none of his limbs were broken.

The entire time, Usami was blubbering, “You’re not hurt are you? Oh, look at those scrapes! I am so sorry! I didn’t mean for that to happen, I just meant to stop the cows before they ran over anyone!”

Awareness flickered in Gundham's eyes. He wrenched his arms out of Peko’s grip and scrambled away from her. “Hands off of me, you foul demon!” He pulled his scarf up over his face, but he couldn’t hide his panicked breathing.

So it seemed that even humans were afraid of Peko touching them. She stood up and took a few steps back from Gundham.

Usami didn’t follow suit, instead getting closer. “Is something wrong?” she asked loudly. _“Are you okay?”_

She didn’t get a response from him.

Gundham’s hamsters clambered up his body to get his attention. His breathing steadied when he noticed them, and he cupped his hands together for them to climb inside. All of the hamsters chittered happily, and some of the color returned to Gundham’s face (not that there was much to begin with).

“That was quite the fall you took,” Peko said, “it is impressive that all of you are unharmed.”

Gundham scoffed. “The Four Dark Devas of Destruction are trained for situations such as these! They would not be felled by something so insignificant!” As he spoke about how powerful the Dark Devas were, the hamsters in question crawled up his arms and tucked themselves back into his scarf. 

Usami used her wand to pull a first aid kit out of thin air, causing Gundham to visibly recoil.

The two of them started bickering about whether or not Gundham actually needed care. Peko ignored them to reassess the situation on the farm. The cows and chickens had dispersed, most going back to the barn while the others were spread across the field. There was a cow calmly grazing nearby, giving no heed to Peko or the other two.

Perhaps this could be her chance.

As slowly as possible, Peko approached the cow. It was lazily chewing on a flower, its tail flicking back and forth. Its white head was dappled with black spots that even spread across its fuzzy pink nose. It looked so soft that Peko felt her chest constrict with longing.

When she was close enough, she reached out her hand. Her fingers stretched out until they were a breath away from the cow’s pelt, but before she could touch it, the cow looked up and let out a terrified moo. 

It ran away, kicking up dust for Peko to cough on.

“Oh no, it happened again!” Usami cried out. She flapped her wings and landed beside Peko. “That meanie moo-cow!”

Peko clenched and unclenched her hand a few times. There was a painful lump building in her throat.

Gundham also walked over and said, “How strange, she ran away from you as though you were a deadly viper,” as if he hadn’t done the exact same thing. His face was covered in brightly colored band-aids that were all decorated with an animal of some kind.

Usami looked at Gundham, then at Peko, then at Gundham again, and then tugged on the hem of Pkeo’s skirt. “Don’t you think that Gundham could help you with your problem? He is the Ultimate Breeder, after all.”

Peko grimaces. It made a lot of sense, but when she looked at Gundham the words just got caught in her throat. It was humiliating enough for other people to see her be rejected, but it would be even worse to ask one of her peers for help.

Usami sensed her struggle, and walked over to Gundham. She gestured for him to lean down, and she whispered into his ear for a bit. When she pulled away, Gundham nodded and said, “I see. Your fierce aura scares off friend as well as foe! That is quite the dilemma. Fortunately for you I have been training these frightful beasts so that they follow my every command.”

He reached his hand into his scarf and pulled out an orange and white hamster. It was nibbling on a sunflower seed, though at the speed it was going, “devouring” might have been a better word.

“San-D is one of the most courageous leaders and fiercest warriors in this mortal realm. He can summon other creatures at will.

San-D finished eating his sunflower seed and began grooming himself. He looked like he didn't have a care in the world, until Gundham extended his arm out to Peko. The hamster took one look at her, squeaked, and tried running back up Gundham's arm. 

Gundham scooped San-D up with his other hand, preventing him from running away. “San-D, can you call yourself a destroyer of worlds if you cannot even approach Ms. Pekoyama?”

San-D looked between Gundham and Peko a few times, then flattened his ears against his head and grudgingly crawled towards Peko. She held out her cupped hands, and the hamster set one tentative paw after the other onto her palm. 

It felt like Peko’s heart stopped. There was no way that this could be real; only a stuffed animal could be as soft as San-D felt. His paws had tiny little toes that curled into her skin, his belly was covered in fluffy white fur, and he was so warm that it felt like she was holding a small bundle of sunlight.

It took her a moment to notice that San-D was looking up at her with big, curious eyes instead of the frightened expression he had before. She held her breath as she took in the sight of his big eyes, his twitching whiskers, and his wiggling nose…

She couldn’t cry. Not now, in front of Gundham and Usami.

San-D turned away from her and stood up as much as a hamster could. He started squeaking loudly and waving his paws in the air. Was he in pain? Peko shot a glance to Gundham for help, but the Ultimate Breeder had a confident smile on his face.

“Peko! Look!” Usami whisper-yelled. 

When Peko looked back, there was a cow strolling over to her. It lifted its head to sniff at San-D, who stopped squeaking to turn back to Peko with a proud expression. She shifted him into one hand, and lifted her other hand towards the cow.

...it didn’t run away.

“Ah-ha! It seems like San-D’s deceptively cute nature has made you appear harmless as well!”

“I’ve never seen your smile before,” Usami said. “It’s so lovely!”

Peko hadn’t even noticed that she was smiling.

Her hand rested on the cow’s head. It didn’t feel as soft as it did in her imagination, but unlike her imagination, it was real. The cow huffed as she let her fingers curl into its short hair, and San-D let out a few squeaks. Joy swelled in Peko’s chest, and rather embarrassingly, tears welled in her eyes. She didn’t turn around out of fear that the others would see them, but she said, “Thank you...I never thought I would...thank you.”

“I’m always happy to help my students!” Usami said.

Peko heard Usami whisper something to Gundham, and he cursed back quietly. Then at his usual loud volume he said, “It pleases me well to know that there are those who acknowledge the Dark Devas’ power. You will be a fine enemy when I take over the world.”

The tears fell faster, though Peko couldn’t tell why. She leaned forward and pressed her forehead to the cow’s. Again it huffed and she could feel the warm air on her skin. San-D wriggled out of her hand and crawled up her arm until he was perched on her shoulder.

Peko closed her eyes. The heat pressed against her forehead was real. The weight on her shoulder was real. The salty tears stinging her eyes were real.

She was real. 

Maybe...that meant that she was more than a tool, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> I was playing the Ultimate Talent Development Plan with Peko, and she had an interaction with Usami that made me realize that this soft bunny friend is severely underutilized as a teacher. She gives off friendly middle-aged librarian vibes, and at first this was just going to be about her and Peko chatting. Then Gundham got involved because he's secretly a good friend (in one of his Free Time Events it says that he doesn't like being around livestock because they'll just be eaten, so in this story the reasons he's around the chickens and cows is because he's secretly giving them combat training so that they won't be eaten). It was an interesting experience writing the dialogue for him and trying to get the characterization right, so let me know what you think!
> 
> Feel free to leave a comment. I hope that you enjoyed this story and that you have a lovely day!


End file.
